Srinagar,24-Feb; As Russian forces attacked targets across Ukraine, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv Thursday issued an advisory to Indians in Ukraine, asking them to ‘maintain calm and remain safe’.“The present situation in Ukraine is highly uncertain. Please maintain calm and remain safe wherever you are, be it in your homes, hostels, accommodations or in transit,” MEA said in a statement.The Embassy further asked those traveling to Kyiv to return to their respective cities, especially “towards safe places along the western bordering countries”.“All those who are travelling to Kyiv, including those traveling from western parts of kyiv, are advised to return to their respective cities temporarily, especially towards safe places along the western bordering countries, ” the advisory said.It said the control room set by the Ministry of External Affairs a few days back is being expanded and made operational on a 24×7 basis.There is no possibility of sending a special aircraft to Ukraine to evacuate the Indians including the Indian embassy staff as the airspace of Ukraine has been closed.Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights in view of high risk to safety. As per estimates, over 15,000 Indians are currently staying in Ukraine.Meanwhile, J&K Students’ Association National Spokesperson, Nasir Khuehami said that 180 to 200 Kashmiri students studying Ukraine in colleges and universities are stuck there at a time when Russian Army has launched a massive military operation there.The office of LG Manoj Sinha confirmed that they have “started the process to bring back all the students studying at Ukraine on fast track basis”.(CNS)
